How to beat the midday slump
October 23, 2007 10:05 pm Tips, Weight LossDoes this ever happen to you?
It’s midday, lunch is over and done with and there is still an hour or two before dinner. You’re working away at your job, busy with school or with the kids when you start feeling tired and begin to lose focus on what you’re doing. Or maybe you get a headache and the “little things” begin to get on your nerves.
This is what is known as the midday slump and it’s usually caused by a rapid drop in blood sugar. Combine this with a lack of proper rest and you have a recipe for weight gain.
What you do between the hours of 2pm and 4pm can have a dramatic impact on your weight loss efforts. There is a twofold effect that happens:
1.) When the slump hits your first instinct is to eat, eat, eat and your cravings are usually not for some health fruit or vegetables either.
2.) If you’re like me you make poor decisions when you’re hungry and that leads to pizza for dinner or a trip out to your local restaurant.
So how do you stop this from happening?
I usually fight this in 3 ways:
1.) I eat a smaller, more protein dense lunch. This way the drop in blood sugar is not so dramatic.
2.) I bring pre packed snacks so that I am not tempted to grab something really unhealthy. Granola bars, almonds, or 100 calorie snack packs are all good choices as well as at least 1 bottle of water.
3.) I get moving. Take a break from whatever you are doing and walk, stretch, or run. It doesn’t really matter just get your heart rate up and the blood flowing. You’ll be more alert and able to make better decisions.
One last suggestion I can give you is to get your rest at night. 6-8 hours a night at least. Most of us waste way too much time at night watching TV or dare I say on the computer. An extra 30-45 mins of sleep can really make a big difference during your day.
What do you think? What do you do to beat the midday slump?
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
This is a huge issue for me as well. I always call 3pm the “evil hour.” When I was on Jenny Craig it worked wonders because I was eating every 3 or 4 hours or so, so I never really got too hungry from going too long between meals.
I really need to get back on Jenny Craig…
October 24th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Oh! And last night it was freaking OATMEAL for the “commercial within the show”! It makes me never want to eat oatmeal, or chew gum, or have a 100-calorie snack bag ever again.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I used to have a really bad problem with the “evil hour”. chips, chocolate anything I could get my hands on. It was usually my most stressful time of the day (still is) but I handle it much better now.
I missed the Oatmeal promo plug last night, but I caught all of the “neil” drama. Risky move, it paid off but now everyone hates him.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Now that I come to think of it, I don’t have this problem–not anymore, should I say. I think it really has to do with the fact that 1) I tend to be more active in general, 2) I make better food choices, at lunch but in general as well. I will jump on the vegetables/meat/fish more than on the pizza when I eat at the campus restaurant, for instance; or I make sure that my lunch meal at the office (prepared at home, then heated in the microwave oven) contains a protein, non-processed grain and veggies, that kind of things. I may be mistaken, but I’m positive all of this does help.
Of course, just in case, I also bring snacks for the 4-5 pm period (in France, we tend to eat around 7-7:30 pm, so afternoons can indeed be long). However, they’re usually fruits, so that I’m sure I have something juicy and delicious rather than my old chocolate bars that actually did nothing to curb my hunger at all.
October 26th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Hi Kery,
I agree, a overall healthier diet definitely helps keep you energy levels steady during the afternoon.
I think protein is so important at lunch as well.
Chocolate Bars are the biggest energy robbers. I used to have a kit-kit or coffee crisp around 3pm every work day. I would feel great until 3:30-3:45. Then I started to feel hungry and cranky.
Since I stopped do that my job performance as improved big time.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:06 am
I usually snack on a pre-packed fruit and nut mix in the afternoon, they’re really small & hence low in calories but quite interesting as there are different tastes (coconut bits are my favorite!) and they see me through to dinner